KIEV: Events related to the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl Accident get underway in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian House in Kiev is hosting a donor conference to raise 740 million euros for the construction of the New Safe Confinement for the damaged reactor 4 and the completion of an interim storage facility for spent fuels from reactors 1-3.

As UKRINFORM reported, a donor conference on raising funds for financing the Chernobyl projects in Kiev has begun with highlight declarations and strong financial commitments.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced a decision of this structure to provide nearly 110 million euros to promote stability and ecological safety of Chernobyl-affected areas.

EBRD President Thomas Mirow has said the Bank will provide 120 million euros for the completion of a new sarcophagus over the Chernobyl NPP. He clarified that the final decision on this matter will be approved in May by the EBRD Board of Directors.

Thomas Mirow added that if in 2011 donors provide more than 740 million euros, the Bank will ask the Board of Directors to increase its contribution by 50% (up to 180 million euros).

France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon, speaking at the Ukrainian House as part of the events marking the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, said that France will give 217 million euros for the Chernobyl projects.

According to him, France has already earmarked 170 million euros for the this purpose, and now another 47 million euros will be transferred.

Russian ambassador Mikhail Zurabov announced Moscow's decision to allocate another 45 million euros to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 2011-2012.

Ukraine itself, which spends each year up to 200 million dollars to keep the current facilities of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in more or less safe condition, has also pledged to increase its contribution to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund. This was announced by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Kiev will earmark 104.163 million dollars in parts, he said.

Later this day, an international summit on the safe and innovative use of nuclear energy will kick off at the Ukrainian House. The gathering will be chaired by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Attending the events in Kiev to mark the 25th anniversary of the largest manmade disaster of the twentieth century will be UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other top officials.

Reactor Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began to fail in the early hours of 26 April, 1986. Seven seconds after the operators activated the 20-second shut down system, there was a power surge. The chemical explosions that followed were so powerful that they blew the 1,000 ton cover off the top of the reactor.

The accident that destroyed the reactor in Unit Four killed 31 people almost immediately.

The explosion and fire threw hot particles of the nuclear fuel and also far more dangerous fission products, radioactive isotopes such as caesium-137, iodine-131, strontium-90 and other radionuclides, into the air: the residents of the surrounding area observed the radioactive cloud on the night of the explosion.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was shut down on December 15, 2000.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.